Fish-plate and means for holding same



(No Model.)

J.. JOHNSTON. FISH PLATE AND MEANS FOR HOLDING SAME.

No. 589,729. Patented Sept. 7,1897.

I l l llflmuuuulu! llllll //iip E l I l 1 7 I Illllllllllllllullnlllllll g mn WITNESSES:

Arromvrs.

UNITED STATES PATENT rricn.

JAMES JOHNSTON, OF BRADFORD, PENNSYLVANIA.

FISH-PLATE AND MEANS FOR HOLDING SAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 589,729, datedSeptember '7, 1897. Application filed December 1t), 1894:. serial No.531,877. lilo model.)

To all whom it may concave Be it known that I, JAMES JOHNSTON, ofBradford, in the county of McKean and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Fish-Plates and Means forHolding the Same, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relates to an improvement in railway-rails, fish-plates,and means for hold-' ing the same to the rails; and the prime object ofthis invention is to provide a fish-plate and means for so looking thesaid plates in engagement with the rails that the rails need not bepunctured or in any manner broken at joints, since bolts or like lookingdevices are not employed, the locking device being a band so constructedas to clamp the fishplates to the rails, engaging with both of theplates and extending beneath the flange of the rail.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the band, tie, orclamp that it may be removed from engagement with the fishplates throughthe medium of a suitable appliance or it may remain a fixture; and afurther object of the invention is to so construct the fish-plates andties or clamps that the rail may be rolled as readily as the rail atpresent in use.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of theseveral parts, as will he hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part ofthis specification,

in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate correspondingparts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of connecting rails tied together throughthe medium of the improved fish-plates and clamps. Fig. 2 is a verticalsection through the rail, the said fishplates being in end view,illustrating the concave form of the latter. Fig. 3 is a similar sectionillustratin g one fish-plate as rendered extcriorly concave convened andshowing likewise the tie, band, or clamp in lockin g engagement with therail and with the fishplates. Fig. 4 is a similar view illustrating aslight modification in the fish-plates, one of them being exteriorlyconcave and the other what may be termed a buttress pattern,

and likewise illustrating the application of the tie, band, or clamp.Fig. 5 is a vertical section through guard-rails, illustrating themanner in which they are tied together and the spacing-block andfish-plates employed. Fig. (l is a perspective vicwof one of theconcave-convex fish-plates; and Fig. 7 is a per-' spective view of thelever employed in placing the removable bands, ties, or clamps inposition and detaching them from said position.

In carrying out the invention the rail A is provided with a straight web10, and the head is provided with an under straight surface or shoulder11 at right angles to the web, while the flange 12 is provided upon itsupper face at each side of the web with a rib 13, constituting,essentially, astep upon the upper face of each side of the flange, whilethe upper marginal portions of the flange are straight, as shown at 14in the drawings, and the under marginal edge, orthat engaging with thesleepers, is rounded more or less inwardly.

The web of the rail is perfectly straight and square with the head andflange, and the head and flange are square with the web for a distancenearly equal to the thickness of the web. The fish-plates B fit closelyto the web of the rail and their underfaccs are stepped, as shown at 15in Fig. 6, or are correspondingly formed with the upper surfaces of theflange, having a recess to receive the ribs 13 of the latter. Thefisl1plates nearly or quite equal the web in strength, and as theirupper edges fit closely upon the shoulders 11 of the head of the railthey support the head, so that at the joint the ends of the rails havevirtually three webs, two of which pass from one to the other.

The too of the fish plate, as heretofore stated, follows the shape ofthe upper face of the flange of the rail and forms with it a roundededge above the ground-level of the rail. The outer face of thefish-plate will be either concaved, as shown in Fig. 2, orconcavo-convexed, as shown in Fig. 6, according to the means used forholding it in place. These fish-plates being made to fit snugly, it isplain that tohold them in place it is only necessary to secure thepoints 0t their toesin their position in even contact with the marginsof the flange of the rails. This fastening is designed to be done ineither of two ways, according as itis desired to make a permanent jointor one that may be easily and quickly separated.

To make the joint securely and permanently, it is only necessary to passa band, tie, or clamp C under the flange of the rail and turn up bothofits ends to overlap the toes of the fish-plates, as shown at the rightin Figs. and 4. The band may be as wide and as heavyas may be desiredandis heated, hammered, and shrunk in position, and the fish-plates may beprovided with recesses 15 to receive the band, if in practice it isfound desirable. Under this construction a very stiff and neat joint isobtained. Nothing about the joint is subject to wear and it should standuntil the rails are worn out. One band should be enough at each joint,but on curves or where side pressure is likely to be great two or morebands may be used.

These bands are preferably located between the sleepers, or it upon asleeper the latter should be channeled to receive it. The bands bear nopart of the weight; of the train, but simply act to hold the fish-platesin substantially like manner as the hand holds a nail under the hammer.7

These fish-plates fitting snugly and being held in place, as described,it is obvious there will be no'click or churning at the joint. Thestiffness of the rail, it is conceded, depends on the stiffncssthat is,the height and thickness-of its web. Therefore the ends of the railsconnected in this way and having virtually three webs would constitutethe stifl'est portion of the track. The extra stiffness not onlyprevents clicking or the striking of a passing wheel against the end ofa rail before going onto it, but allows no upand-down play between theends of the rails and there is nothing to loosen or wear out the bandsor ties.

The rail differs in shape from that now in use, but not radically, sothat it presents no difficulties to the manufacturer, but may be rolledin exactly the same way, and it has this advantage that it is finishedwhen it leaves the rolls, requiring to be straightened, perhaps, but notrequiring to be drilled for fish-plate bolts.

For use in a permanentjoiut both fish-plates are concaved -that is tosay, they are exactly alike. They may be rolled in long rods with aslight curve toward the flat side and cut into lengths. These must fitaccurately,especially in their perpendicular measurement. The slightcurve will keep the ends tight to the web of the rail and will make itnecessary to use a powerful clamp to put it in place to get the middleof the fish-plate bearing against the rail. If the clamp is kept onuntil the band is cool, the tendency of the fish-plateto bulge in themiddle will serve to make and keep the band C tight and will help oneband to serve for one joint. The ends of the bands, especially on theoutside of the rails, must be worked up smooth against the web of thefishplate or countersunk into it, so that they will not be sheared offby a derailed wheel.

There is no limit to the size of the bands. They must be strong enoughto resist an y force likely to be met with in legitimate use.

The outer surfaces of the fish-plates may be made corrugated orcountersunk in the rolls. Such a construction would assistin protectinga joint against being tampered with by reason of its being impossible todrive the plates lengthwise out of the grasp of the bands (I.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have illustrated what I calla buttress fish-plate,one that is carried down over the margin of the flange of the rail andmade to rest on the sleeper at all points in its length, except wherethe band is fitted on. In order to provide a means for holding theseplates so that they may be removed and replaced at will, the form ofband shown in Figs. 1, 3, 4, and 5 has been devised, the said band beingmade of a spring material. Each spring-band is made to contain an angle,represented by the letters D, E, and F. If the point F be fixed, theoperation of the spring is such that if it be pulled open the point Dwill move backward, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and at the sametime the portion between E and F becomes very nearly straight. hen thisspring is to be used, I employ with it a heavy fish-plate, one made withan outer CODCdVO-COHVGXQG. face, as shown in Fig. 6. Both ends of theband are made to clamp firmly a fish-plate and a margin of therail-flange. One of the ends is simply bent up a short distance over thetoe of the outer fish-plate, while the end that is carried over the toeof the inner fish-plate is of much greater size, extendinga greaterdistance upward upon the plate, and the outer or perpendicular edge ofthis end is provided with a cavity or recess 16, which may be formed, asshown in the drawings, upon the lines of a compound curve, being adaptedto receive the forked or correspondingly shaped head 17 of the lever 18,and through the medium of this lever, when introduced into the saidrecess 16, the band is either sprung upon or from the fish-plates. It isevident that under such a construction of band the plates will be heldfirmly in engagement with the rails and that the rails at a joint willnot only be held firmly and closely together, admitting at the same timeof expansion or contraction of the rails, but also that the rails attheir point of connection will be rendered much stronger than at anyother point.

lVith reference to the guard-rail illustrated in Fig. 5 a long springclamp or band may be employed to hold it, or it may be fastenedpermanently by the bands heated, hammered, or shrunk, all as heretoforedescribed. In this form of rail a center or spacing block 19 isemployed, being made to fit at right angles to the heads and webs ofboth rails, and the rails have a bearing against one another where theycome together, which, together with the block, absolutely preventsoverriding or tipping. The inside fish-plate B of the guardrail isextended to the ties, forming a buttress, and supports the guard-rail atan angle oi forty-five degrees. this buttress-plate is sharp, so that ifit had to bear the weight of the train it would simply cut into the tieor sleeper and hold it.

The use of this device does not prevent the use of all the means newemployed for securing guard-rails. It is simply additional to them, butit will hold the two rails together, and although, of course, the wholestructure would be thoroughly spiked to the track the guard-rail couldnot turn over or get away, even if every one of the spikes were drawn.

It will be understood that each rail will be secured to the road-bed inthe middle of its length in order to prevent creeping, and also tosecure equal contraction from the ends of each rail toward its center.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent-- 1. The combination, with a rail the head of which isprovided with a flat under surface, and the flange with a rib upon itsupper face at each side of the web, of fish-plates enga ing with theunder surface of the head and with the upper face of the rail-flanges,con- The lower edge of formingto the latter and likewise engaging withthe web, and a band of spring material extending beneath the flange ofthe rail and held in clamping engagement with the outer faces of thefish-plates, one end of the band being fitted to receive alever, as andfor the purpose specified.

2. The combination with arail,of fish-plates shaped to fit upon andengage with the web, flanges and under surface of the head of the rail,and a band of spring material extending beneath the flange of the railand held in clamping engagement with the outer faces of the fish-plates,one end of the band having a recess formed therein, as and for thepurpose set forth.

3. The combination with the fish-plates shaped to fit upon the rail of aspring-band extending beneath the flanges and adapted to engage with theouter faces of the fishplates, one end of said band being bent upward toengage the toe of one of said fishplates, and the other end beingenlarged and having recesses in its outer edge to receive the head of alever, as and for the purpose specified.

- JAMES JOHNSTON. \Vitnesses:

D. H. JACK,

GEO. L. Rosnn'rs.

